Category: religious freedom

China’s pre-Christmas crackdown raises alarm

     

A recent surge of police action against churches in China has raised concerns the government is getting even tougher on unsanctioned Christian activity, the BBC reports: Among those arrested are… Read more »

The subtleties – and limits – of China’s soft power

     

The Chinese government has been trying to sell the country itself as a brand—one that has the ability to attract people from other countries in the way that America does… Read more »

Vietnam moving to smother dissent

     

There are growing signs that Vietnam’s government is moving to smother dissent, as the one-party regime in recent days has labeled a pro-democracy group a terrorist organization, imprisoned a blogger… Read more »

Vietnam: free imprisoned bloggers

     

Vietnam’s Communist authorities should quash the politically motivated convictions of two bloggers and release them from prison, Human Rights Watch said today: On September 22, 2016, the Higher People’s Court… Read more »

Vietnam’s growing protest culture explained

     

The Formosa scandal in Vietnam has recently made international headlines and offered the international community a rare glimpse into the fringe, but steadily growing, culture of protest and activism in… Read more »

China’s Lhasa Consensus ‘can’t hide the rot underneath’

     

  China last week held a two-day Tibet Development Forum in Lhasa attended by 130 people from 30 countries and organized by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, VOA’s Yeshi Dorje… Read more »

Three paths to instability in Zimbabwe

     

  Zimbabwean authorities this week imposed restrictions on the import of a range of goods, from bottled water to fertilizers and canned beans, while local businesses complain of not being… Read more »

Will new Archbishop transform Cuban Church?

     

In the mid-1970s, a recently ordained priest trekked the Cuban countryside, defying the communist government by distributing hand-printed religious pamphlets to townspeople bold enough to open their doors, The New… Read more »

Religious restrictions, hostilities decline despite rise in religious terrorism

     

  Worldwide, both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion decreased modestly from 2013 to 2014 despite a rise in religion-related terrorism, according to Pew Research Center’s latest… Read more »

China’s future: Xi’s ‘great rejuvenation’ is radical and risky

     

“China is simply not turning out as many had expected and have worked so long and hard to realize — a liberal China,” notes David Shambaugh, a professor of political… Read more »